Family Ties
by kaitlyn hudgens
Summary: "Why do babies get the good stuff?" "Um, you are getting the good stuff." "And, what good stuff would that be?" "It's between my legs, being ignored, and I can control your life with it."
1. Chapter 1

Savannah walked through the doors of the gymnasium of Lancer University. She held one of the doors open and bent down, picking up an infant carrier, before looking out to the hall. "Come on, baby. Aunt Alice is here."

A blonde, pigtailed little girl wearing a pink zebra striped shirt, a black tutu skirt and black leggings toddled into the gym, thumb in mouth. She was the spitting image of her mother, but had her fathers blonde hair and blue eyes. She had Savannah's personality as well. She was hyper and strangely optimistic for a two-year-old.

"There's my girl!" Alice said, walking towards them. "Come here, kiddo," she said, holding her arms out.

Savannah watched as her toddler daughter ran towards Alice, and she let the gym door shut as she walked towards a bench, putting the infant carrier on it.

"I thought you weren't gonna bring Chloe anymore after you had Seth?" Alice said.

"Yeah, well, my plan backfired. For some reason, I completely blocked out that Dan would be working and they wouldn't be able to stay home with Daddy."

"So, get a baby sitter."

"I don't trust strangers."

"Ask Marti."

"She's a lawyer, do you really think she's got time and patience to baby sit a two-year-old and a one-month-old?"

"She has to have patience to deal with her clients."

"Her clients aren't little kids."

"They sure as hell act like them. Look, Emily's here. She and Deidre almost got into it, and I don't know how to handle Deidre's attitude, so I figured you'd be able to kept them away from each others throats…"

"What? What the hell is she doing here? She has no business being in my gym."

"Tell her that."

"Watch the kids."

Savannah walked towards the practice mat, and she saw Deidre and Emily staring at each other, while the Hellcats stood a ways behind Deidre. She let out an annoyed breath and pushed herself between the two of them, before turning to Emily.

"Why are you in my gym?" she asked.

"I _was_ coming to see how you were doing after having your baby, but apparently, that's against the rules," Emily said.

"Well, thank you, Emily, I'm fine. But, you really need to go now. I can tell you're stirring up trouble with my cheerleaders and I don't like it."

"Damn right she's stirring up trouble, she came in here acting like the queen of the world and then tried to tell me I wasn't cheerleader material," Deidre said.

"Okay, look, Emily; these cheerleaders are no longer associated with Vanessa Lodge. If you're here to sabotage her even more, then you're in the wrong place. You have no business being in my gym."

"_Your_ gym? It's Lancer's gym," Emily said. "I'm part of Lancer. Therefore, this is _my_ gym."

"I'm the Hellcats coach, Emily, you know that. I have every right to claim this gym as mine. You've never been in here before. I find it hard to believe you came here to see how I was doing. I think you were here to try to get dirt on Vanessa and Red, and that's the one thing you're not going to get here. What you _are_ going to get is a very brutal beating from Deidre if you don't back off my cheerleaders."

"Is that a threat?"

"From Savannah it's a threat, but from me it's a promise, now step the hell off or I'll _make_ you," Deidre said.

"The superintendent will be hearing about this."

"It's your word against ours," Savannah said. "Where's the proof that it happened? Get out. Now."

Savannah watched Emily walked out of the gym, and she sighed, looking at Deidre. "Look, thanks for the defense, but I'd rather my cheerleaders didn't get any further into drama than necessary, okay? Just stay quiet next time."

"She was closer to kicking your ass than I was to kicking hers, you needed back up," Deidre said.

"And I thank you for that, Deidre, but I can't risk you being suspended over something as stupid as this. I know she's annoying, but she's deliberately _trying_ to piss us off. Don't give her the satisfaction, okay?"

"Fine. Next time, you have fun getting your face fucked up," she said, walking past Savannah.

"Hey. Get your ass back here, and finish your practice run. I know you aren't done."

"Who are you, my mother?"

"Worse. I'm your coach."

* * *

><p>"Mrs. Patch!"<p>

Savannah stopped walking, and she turned around, towards the voice she heard. She smiled, seeing one of her favorite students. Hannah Lensor was an exceptional student and always had her head on her shoulders. "Hi, Hannah."

"Hi. Look, I know you've got your kids with you, but I really need to talk to you. It's important," Hannah said.

Savannah saw the fear and worry in Hannah's eyes. She wouldn't turn her down just because Chloe and Seth were with her. "Okay. Come to my office with me," she said, turning around and heading towards the gym.

When Savannah graduated from Lancer, she studied to become a teacher. Since they didn't have a coach when Vanessa got fired, the cheer leading team was out of the question, so Savannah asked the superintendent if she could start the Hellcats back up again, if she promised to keep the funding up. So far, she was doing a pretty good job. Hannah was one of her cheerleaders, and one of her students in her English class, and one of the best.

Savannah led Hannah into her office and she closed the door behind them, before setting Seth's carrier on the couch and lifting Chloe onto it next to him. "Please don't take Seth's binky from him. He's happy and I want him to stay that way. Be good. Mommy will only be a few minutes."

"I be dood," Chloe said.

"Thank you," Savannah said, sitting at her desk. "What is it, Hannah?"

"I'm pregnant," Hannah said.

"Hannah…"

"I know, I know. I know we're already down two cheerleaders, but it's not my fault."

"It's not your fault that you had unprotected sex and got pregnant?"

"I was raped."

Savannah stared at Hannah for a few seconds. She knew exactly what she was going through. Well, not _exactly_, but she was close to it. When she was twenty-one, she got drunk with an emcee from The Rat and went to his truck with him. She was fine with making out with him. She was fine with him getting handsy. When he tried to force her shorts and underwear off of her, she went into complete hysterics and she could have been in the same predicament Hannah was in, if Marti hadn't interrupted them.

"Oh, Hannah… I… I'm so sorry," Savannah said.

Hannah stayed quiet as her eyes filled with tears. "Look, Mrs. Patch, I'm sorry that I'm screwing up qualifiers…"

"Hannah, this is in absolutely no way your fault. Rape is _never_ your fault. If you ever need to talk to somebody about it, don't hesitate to call me or come to my office."

"I'm just… I'm scared that… I'm scared that he's gonna do it again. I'm terrified."

"I know how you feel."

"…You do?"

"Yeah. I mean, to a certain extent."

"How?"

"Well, I was a student here. I went through a break up with my husband."

"You were married?"

"No, not at the time. I was upset about it and I wanted to forget about him, so I went to a hoedown with my Hellcats team, and I got wasted with the emcee. I was stupid enough to go to his car with him, and we got all hot and heavy, and he wasn't satisfied with just making out and grinding. He wanted the whole thing, and he tried. Just when I thought my whole life was going to be changed, my best friend saved my life."

Hannah listened and shook her head lightly. "Men are pigs…"

"Not all of them. Some of them are pretty nice. My husband is one of the best guys out there."

"What's he like?"

"He's great. He's a director. He's one of the nicest, most caring and gentle men in the world. He gave me two beautiful kids that I'd never trade for the world. He supports me with whatever I do, even if he doesn't agree with it."

"Like what?"

"Well, my little sister's been having problems lately. Relationship issues. Her son is being caught in the middle of it, and she wants me to take him in until she can get out of that relationship and get her life on track. My husband doesn't like the idea of taking on another child, especially when we have two of our own."

"But, it's family. You can't turn down family."

"He knows that. That's why he's letting me bring him home, but that doesn't mean he has to like the idea. I don't like it either, but I'd do anything for that little boy. He's been through so much in his life, and I don't want him going through anymore than he has to."

"What's he been through?"

"He was a month premature. He's been fine, it's just that he's still suffering from that one month of oxygen loss. He has to take breathing treatments daily."

"How old is he?"

"Four."

"And he has to take breathing treatments every day? That's harsh for a little kid."

"He's strong. He pretends he's filling up on his super powers. He's in a Superman phase."

Hannah smiled. "That's cute… Look, thanks for talking to me, Mrs. Patch. I know you're busy with classes and your kids, I appreciate it," she said, standing up.

"Anytime, Hannah. Just call me the problem solver."

"You're already known as the do-gooder."

* * *

><p>Savannah walked into hers and Dan's apartment and she closed the door after Chloe ran in. She walked to the couch, setting Seth's carrier down before taking him out of it, and heading towards the kitchen. "Hey," she said, sitting at a stool.<p>

"Hey," Dan said, kissing her lips lightly. "How'd school with the brats go today?"

"They stayed at the daycare when I was teaching, they came with me when I went to check on the Hellcats. Emily was in there."

"Emily? As in, Red Raymond's Emily?"

"Red Raymond's _ex_ Emily."

"What was she doing there?"

"She _says_ she was coming to ask how I was doing after having Seth, but what _really_ happened was her insulting Deidre, and Deidre almost giving her a new face."

"Speaking of Deidre, still not on speaking terms with Marti yet?"

Savannah sighed and shrugged. "They're talking, Marti's just still pissed off that Deidre kept their father a secret. I mean, I don't blame Marti for being mad, but Deidre needs her sister. She has no other family, and Wanda is absolutely no help at all, and even you know that."

"The _world_ knows Wanda is no help. Where's Chloe?"

"Somewhere around here. She came in before me. Chloe, where'd you go?" she called out.

"I in potty woom!" Chloe shouted.

"I take it potty training is going better than before?" Dan asked.

"Yes. She's been doing a lot better. She hates wearing the pull ups, though."

"Why is she still wearing diapers if she's potty trained?"

"Well, for one thing, she's _not_ potty trained. She's _in_ training. Second, she's only two years old, she can't hold it yet. I make her wear the pull ups so she doesn't have an accident when we're out somewhere, and if she _does_ have an accident, she doesn't get her clothes wet."

"Why do you women have to have an explanation for everything?"

"Because we're gifted. What are we having tonight?"

"Enchiladas."

"Yummy," she said before looking down at Seth. "You're missing out on the good stuff, buddy."

"Uh, no, _Daddy_ is missing out on the good stuff. He gets the boobs, I don't."

"Well, that just proves that he is definitely his daddy's boy. He doesn't even like bottles."

"Smart baby."

"Mommy, I pway wif brudder?" Chloe asked, walking into the kitchen.

"Did you flush the toilet and wash your hands?" Savannah asked.

"Um, yeah."

"Um, go do it. Now."

"I need hewp."

"No you don't. You've never needed help before. Did you wipe?"

"Yeah."

"You better have. You'll get a rash if you don't. You don't want a rash, do you?"

"No."

"Go flush the toilet and wash your hands."

"Otay."

Savannah looked at Dan when Chloe ran out of the room. "You better have washed your hands before you started making that food."

"I did, Mom," Dan said.

"I'm thinking of inviting Deidre over for dinner. It seemed like something was bothering her earlier."

"Yeah, Emily."

"More than that."

"She's probably upset that Marti won't talk to her."

"Dan, _I'm_ upset that Marti won't talk to her. It's not fair that she shut her out. It's been four years."

"She lied to Marti."

"Marti promised that she'd never abandon her. Deidre had a damn good reason for keeping Rex a secret, Dan. Marti just won't listen to her."

"What's that reason?"

"Deidre told me that in confidence."

"I'm your husband."

"She's my cheerleader, and cheerleaders and coaches have a cheerleader to coach confidentiality contract."

"They do not."

"Well, I'm gonna make one."

* * *

><p>Savannah invited Deidre over for dinner, and after they ate, they talked for a few hours. Savannah knew that it was late, so she had Deidre spend the night, and she'd take her to school with her in the morning. Right now, Savannah was waking up from a deep sleep. She didn't know what was waking her up, but she knew it was the middle of the night, because Dan was sitting up in bed on his laptop.<p>

Savannah let out a deep breath and she looked over to the screen, widening her eyes when she saw a not very decent picture of her. "Who the hell took that?"

Dan flinched a little, not expecting her to be awake, but he laughed a little. "Lewis. It was at a party from junior year," he said.

"Well, delete it."

"No, it's sexy."

"I'm naked!"

"You're sexy when you're naked."

"Daniel Garrett Patch, if that picture gets sent to _anybody_, I will find out about it, and I will kill you."

"You'd never kill me. I'd never send this picture out."

"Why are you looking at it?"

"I was just looking through pictures and found it. Look, here's one you'll like," he said, clicking on a picture to bring it up.

Savannah smiled, seeing herself, Marti, Charlotte, Layne and Dan. She was sitting propped up in a hospital bed, with Dan next to her, and everyone else around her, while she held a baby wrapped in a pink blanket. It was the day she'd given birth to Chloe. That was always one of the most special pictures she'd had. It was hanging up in Chloe's room right above her bed.

"God, I look terrible," Savannah said.

"You look beautiful, especially after just giving birth not ten minutes before."

Savannah stared at the picture for a few more seconds, before looking towards the doorway, hearing retching sounds.

"Jeez, what's up with that?" Dan asked.

"I don't know. I'll check on her," she said, getting out of bed. She picked her underwear up from the floor that had been discarded during their activities from earlier and slid them on, not bothering with shorts, since she was wearing one of Dan's shirts that practically swallowed her.

Savannah walked out of the room and she walked down the hall to the bathroom, only to find Deidre knelt by the toilet, vomiting. She walked over to her and knelt next to her, pulling her hair back, and she ran her hand over her back to soothe her.

Once the vomiting stopped, Deidre stayed quiet, and Savannah looked at her for a few seconds.

"You okay?" Savannah asked.

Deidre nodded, staying silent.

"Okay. You need anything?"

Deidre shook her head.

"Kay. Was it Dan's cooking? Sometimes he's just not as good as he thinks he is."

Savannah smiled when Deidre let out a soft chuckle. "Are you gonna stay in here for a little bit? Wait for the feeling to pass?"

Deidre nodded again.

"Alright. I'll be in my room. Just come get me if you need anything," Savannah said, standing up.

"I better not be walking in on a sex show," Deidre said.

"Oh, you won't. That was hours ago."

"I can tell."

"Kay, well… I'll be in my room. Like I said, just come get me."

"Okay."

Savannah walked back to hers and Dan's room and she sat on the bed next to him, laying her head down on his shoulder. "You gave her food poisoning."

"What?" Dan asked.

"I'm kidding. She probably just has the flu. She'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. She was talking and breathing. She's not dying. Or dead."

"What if she's pregnant?"

"Well, then, that's not my problem. It would suck for the Hellcats, though."

"Why?"

"Joseph broke his arm, Tracy fractured her ankle, and Hannah's pregnant. If Deidre's pregnant, or if anything else is wrong with her to prevent her from being able to compete, then we're screwed for Qualifiers."

"Well, you should pray for her, then."

"Trust me, I've been praying for her since I met her. No amount of praying will help her."


	2. Chapter 2

**Monkeyr159:** In all honesty, I forgot that Marti and Julian were together! But since you mentioned it, yes, they are.

* * *

><p>Savannah's eyes drifted over the Hellcats as they practiced their routine for Qualifiers. She was honestly getting really pissed off at them. Very few of them were actually trying their best. Deidre was still sick this morning, so Savannah told her to stay at her place, and then if she wanted to, she'd bring her back to the dorms. She hated the thought of her being alone when she was sick, but maybe the alone time and rest would do her good.<p>

"If you guys aren't going to do your best, then it's not worth practicing," Savannah said in an annoyed tone.

"We're trying our best, Coach," Casey Truant said.

"Bull crap. If you were, you'd be a hell of a lot better. When I was a cheerleader, we were good enough for Championships when we were practicing. You guys keep slowing down when you need to speed up. There are only three of you that I feel are actually worth staying on the team. The rest of you had better shape up, or there are going to be try outs to fill your positions."

"Deidre's not even here, why are you bitching at us?"

"Deidre's puking her guts out, do you really want her here right now?"

"No…"

"Get your asses in gear. I want you to have this routine down pat by Friday."

"That's only four days!"

"Four days is all it should take. I'm gonna go check on my kids, I want to see you guys doing some hardcore practicing when I get back."

"Whatever…"

Savannah rolled her eyes as she turned around and she walked out of the gym. She sighed, knowing that the Hellcats were going to end up screwing up at Qualifiers. She hated thinking such negative thoughts, but with the way her cheerleaders were performing, she'd rather just drop out of it.

Walking down the hall, she couldn't help but wish she was twenty-one again. She missed being a student at Lancer. She missed the time she spent with her friends. She missed being just boyfriend and girlfriend with Dan. Not that she didn't like being his wife, she just… missed the beginning. Everytime she thought about the beginning of their relationship, she remembered the beginning of their love life.

She remembered that well. She remembered their first time together. It was her first time ever. It was beautiful, romantic, slow, gentle. It was in hers and Marti's dorm room, and they'd been walked in on in the end, but it was still one of the most special moments of her life.

_Savannah let out a small breath, staring up at Dan as he stayed still inside her. This was the first time she was having sex, and so far, it was going pretty well. It hurt, but it wasn't unmanageable. She'd been waiting for this moment since they started dating, practically._

_Letting out another breath, to make sure she was ready, she nodded and rested her hands on his shoulders. "Okay… I'm good," she whispered._

"_You're sure?" Dan asked._

_Nodding, she pushed her hips to his to signify she was sure, and she let out a quiet moan as he pushed into her a little._

_Their activities continued slowly and passionately for about an hour, before they finally reached their climaxes._

_Savannah gasped, pressing her nails into his shoulders and she felt a wave flow through her body, eliciting a moan and heavy breathing._

_Once Dan was done and he'd slid out of her, Savannah felt a slightly painful twinge in her stomach. She figured it was just because it was her first time. She felt sick to her stomach._

"_Are you okay?" Dan asked, noticing the pained expression on her face as he laid next to her._

"_Yeah… I just feel a little nauseous."_

"_Do you wanna go to the bathroom in case you get sick?"_

"_No, I'll be okay."_

_The door opened and Alice appeared at the doorway, not at all shocked by what she saw. She probably didn't even care. "Hey, Savannah, Darwin ate the Chinese food from last week in the fridge… Should he be worried?"_

_Savannah couldn't even think of a response, before leaning over the edge of her bed, vomiting into the wastebasket by her nightstand. _

"_The first time does that to ya, kid. You're gonna feel like shit the rest of the night."_

She could have been a little more concerned. Savannah knew she was just trying to make a joke, but at that particular moment, she wanted to strangle Alice.

Up ahead of her, she saw Julian Parrish waiting outside his class room. Over the years, she'd become pretty good friends with Julian, not just because they were both teachers at Lancer, but because he'd had a steady, healthy relationship with Marti for the last four years. She was just waiting for the day Marti would call her up or show up at the door, beaming that Julian had proposed.

"Hey, Julian," she said, stopping beside him.

"Hello, Mrs. Patch. How are you today?" Julian asked.

"I'm good. Are you ever gonna stop calling me Mrs. Patch? You call me Savannah everywhere else."

"I like to be professional."

"Are you saying I'm not professional because I call you Julian?"

"No. Where are you off to?"

"Checking on my little devils."

"I just passed by the daycare, they seemed okay."

"Aw, you checked on my kids?"

"Just thought I'd be generous. They call me Uncle Julian, I figured I could at least play the uncle part and stay concerned about them with a bunch of strangers."

"Well, thank you. Waiting on Marti?"

"Yeah. She told me she had to tell me something in person. You're a girl, what can't be told over the phone?"

Savannah thought for a few seconds. "An engagement, a break up, cheating, confronting about cheating, pregnancy-"

"Okay, I get it."

"Sorry. It could be anything, really. Maybe she just misses you and wants to see you."

"Patch, get away from my man or this will get bloody," Marti said playfully as she walked up to Julian and Savannah.

"And to think I made you the godmother of my children."

"There's no better whack job than me for the part."

"I'll leave you two alone now," Savannah said, starting down the hall again.

"No, no," Marti said, pulling her back. "Stay, I want you to know, too."

"Ooh, I get to get in on the romance? Kinky, but enticing. I like it."

"You're a lot less Savannah-y now that your all married and mommed up."

"I got my joking abilities from the best of the best. Her name's Marti, dating her college professor, maybe you've heard of her. Blonde, Dolly Parton boobs, drunk mother, the whole shebang."

"My mother is not drunk… At least, not right now."

"What's the news?" Julian asked, wanting to get to the point.

Marti shuffled through her purse for a few seconds, before handing Julian and black and white picture.

Savannah's eyes widened and she gasped, covering her mouth. "Oh my god, no way!"

"Way," Marti said with a big grin.

"Congratulations!" Savannah said, pulling Marti in for a hug. "I knew this day was gonna come, I just didn't know when."

"What am I missing?" Julian asked.

"Ooh, can I tell him?"

"He didn't get it right off the bat, go ahead," Marti said.

Savannah took the picture from Julian and looked at it for a few seconds. "That's your son," she said, handing the picture back to him.

"Daughter."

Savannah took the picture back and stared and it and then nodded. "Nope, she's right, that's your daughter," she said, handing the picture back to him. "Wait!" she said, taking the picture back again. She studied it and looked at Marti. "Okay, your ultrasound technician's an idiot, girl parts are defined by the lines. There should be three lines, and I see two grapes and a banana. This is not a girl."

Julian looked at Savannah for a few seconds, and then to Marti. "You're pregnant? We're having a baby?"

"You're pregnant, you're having a baby."

Julian and Marti looked at Savannah, making her hold her hands up in protest. "Sorry," she said.

"I'm pregnant, we're having a baby," Marti said.

"That's great!"

Savannah watched as Julian and Marti hugged, and she couldn't help but smile when they kissed and had tears in their eyes. She didn't know if they'd been planning on getting pregnant, but they were now, and she was excited that she got to be in on it.

"Mrs. Patch, you're kinda… Wet," Julian said, adverting his eyes away from her shirt.

Savannah's eyebrows raised. "…What?"

"You're leaking," Marti said. "When's the last time you fed the baby?"

Savannah looked at her shirt and she whined a little. "Damn it, that's the third time this week… I'm gonna go get my kid and feed him…"

"Give them kisses for me."

"I will."

Walking down the hall, she secretly wished she kept an extra shirt with her. She always kept an extra shirt with her after she had Chloe. She kept reminding herself to bring one with her, but she always forgot.

Walking into the daycare room, she scanned her eyes over the room, before finally spotting one of the daycare assistants, feeding Seth a bottle. She walked over to then, stepping over Chloe on her way over. "Hey, Grace, I need him. How long has he been eating?"

"Just a few minutes," Grace said, taking the bottle from Seth's mouth. "You know, you really should pump or wear bra pads. It'll prevent you from leaking like that," she said as Savannah took Seth from her.

"Yeah, I know, I just keep forgetting. Where's his diaper bag?"

"Behind the counter. Chloe keeps getting into it and taking his binky."

"I forgot to pack hers. If he's not using it, it's fine, I just don't want her taking it from him when he has it," she said, walking over to the counter. She knelt down carefully and got a receiving blanket out of the diaper bag, before standing back up and laying Seth down in her arms. Once she got the blanket over her and Seth, she got herself ready so he could eat. "I'll be in Cheertown. If the kids get in the way too much, I'll bring them back," she said, hoisting the diaper bag over her shoulder.

"Chloe, let's go, baby," Savannah said, walking over to the door.

"I doh wif Mommy?" Chloe asked, running over to Savannah.

"Yeah. Aunt Marti's here, maybe we'll catch her on the way back to Mommy's office."

"I see Mawti!" Chloe shouted, running out of the room.

"Chloe, do not run, this is a school, not a play ground," she said, making her way down the hall.

Savannah sighed when Chloe kept running, but she was glad Marti and Julian were still out in the hall. At least she was running to someone she knew. She saw Marti pick up Chloe, and she finally made her way over to them without having to worry. "I told you not to run," she said.

"You ran after Mommy said not to?" Marti asked. "That's not good."

"I see Mawti," Chloe said.

"You could have walked, I would have waited for you. Walk next time, okay?"

"Otay. I see Duwian," she said, holding her arms out to Julian.

"Hey, Princess," Julian said, kissing Chloe's cheek.

"I no pwisess, I Twoh-ee."

"Okay, hi, Chloe."

"Dat better."

"How's the little man?" Marti asked.

"Hungry, thank god," Savannah said. "I thought I was gonna bust."

"Hey, Seffers," Marti said, lifting the blanket a little to see Seth. She kissed his cheek. "I missed you."

Savannah heard Seth gurgle behind her breast and she smiled a little. "I can't wait until he starts babbling. That was the fun part with Chloe."

"I know, I remember. You could hold a conversation with her for hours about absolutely nothing."

"Yeah, now she doesn't even talk to me."

"Aw, how come you don't talk to Mommy anymore, Chloe?"

"I no know," Chloe said.

"You'll hurt Mommy's feelings."

"No I not," she said, laying her head down on Julian's shoulder.

"Are you tired?"

"No," she said, yawning.

Marti and Savannah laughed, and Julian repositioned her so she'd be more comfortable.

"Aw! Is that your little girl, Mr. Parrish?" a student asked, stopping by them.

"No, she's Mrs. Patch's daughter."

"I didn't know you had kids, Mrs. P."

Savannah raised an eyebrow. "…I talk about them all the time, where've you been?" she asked. "Oh, wait, I know. Not in my class."

"For good reasons."

"What's that reason, do I bored you to death?"

"No, just to sleep."

"Claire, if you aren't in my class tomorrow I'll report it to the dean and let him deal with you. You're in my class for a reason."

"But, it's boring! We never learn anything fun."

"School's not for fun, and I don't choose what to teach. The school does. I have to learn this stuff with you guys, it's not very fun for me either, especially with a bunch of students skipping class. Be there tomorrow or face suspension."

"I'll be there."

* * *

><p>"Savannah!"<p>

Savannah looked behind her towards the gym doors, and she turned around, seeing Dan running towards her. "What? What is it?"

"When I got home, Deidre was passed out in the bathroom. I couldn't wake her up so I took her to the hospital, and she's being checked out right now, but they need a family member to release her information to. I tried saying I was her brother, but they didn't believe me," Dan said.

"Alice! Can you baby sit?"

"Sure," Alice said. "When, what for, for how long?"

"Now, so I can go to the hospital, probably overnight."

"That's fine."

Savannah followed Dan out of the gym and she ran her hair through her hair. "What would have made her pass out?"

"I don't know. I think maybe she's been throwing up all day and she probably dehydrated, but I don't know."

"I'll get Marti, she's in Julian's class."

"Hurry up."

Savannah and Dan made their way to Julian's class, and Savannah opened the door, resulting in the whole class turning around to look at her. She stared back for a few seconds, before looking at Marti. "Come with me. Now."

"What's going on?" Marti asked, jogging up the steps.

Savannah waited until Marti was out in the hall before letting the door close. "Deidre spent the night at our place and she got sick last night, so we assumed she had the flu and Dan came home and found her passed out in the bathroom. He took her to the hospital, but they won't give him any information, it has to be given to a family member."

"Hey, I told you I want nothing to do with her."

"She's in the hospital, you won't even go to see if she's okay?"

"I'll tell you what, I'll stay here, and you can call me and tell me if she's okay."

"And what if she's not?"

"Then, it's not my problem."

"You promised her you'd always be there for her no matter what, Marti."

"She lied to me about my father."

"Fine, forget it," Savannah said, starting down the hall again. She heard Dan following behind her, and she blinked to keep the tears back.

"She's being a bitch, what's wrong with her?" Dan asked.

"She's pregnant, but that's no reason to not care about her fucking sister," she said, slamming the door of the building open. "Deidre would do _anything_ for her, and she repays her by not even checking to see if she's okay."

"We can go to Wanda."

"Is she at work?"

"Probably, it's only three-thirty."

Savannah broke out into a run to get to The Rat as quickly as possible. Since she'd graduated, and hadn't been on the Hellcats team, she hadn't been a very big fan of running, but this was an emergency.

Once she and Dan got to the bar, they both ran over to the bar.

"Wanda!" Savannah shouted to get her attention.

"Hey, Savannah. Hi, Dan, how's that handsome boy doin'?" Wanda asked, walking over to them.

"He's great, but we need a really big favor from you."

"What is it?"

"Deidre passed out and she's at the hospital. They won't release any information to Dan because he's not a relative and they didn't believe him when he said he's her brother, so we need you to lie your ass off and tell them you're her mother."

"Why didn't you ask Marti? She's her sister."

"She's a bitch."

"What's going on with you two?"

"She won't help her sister or even see if she's okay, so we need you to come with us, it's an emergency, Wanda, please."

"Okay. Just let me tell the boss."

When Wanda walked off, Savannah let out a small breath and she looked at Dan. "I'd never, _ever_ do that to my sister," she said.

"I know," Dan said. "Marti's difficult."

"She's more than difficult."

"I know. I've known her."

"I mean, who cares if she's pissed off at her? She can still be pissed off and care about her at the same damn time."

"I know."

"Is that all you have to say?"

"I don't know what else to say."

"Alright, you two, I got the okay," Wanda said, walking up to them.

"Good, let's go," Savannah said, walking towards the door.

Once they all got to the hospital, Wanda did her magic and got the nurses to believe she was Deidre's mother. Savannah was still pissed off and arguing with a nurse, who was getting annoyed with her.

"I don't have a problem with _you_, I have a problem with you not telling me about my friend, that passed out at _my_ house," Savannah said. "My husband is the one that brought her in and signed her in, so why couldn't you just tell _him_ what was wrong with her?"

"Because, your husband is not a relative of Miss Perkins," the nurse said.

"So _what_! He brought her in!"

"It doesn't matter, Mrs. Patch, we can't tell a non-relative about Miss Perkins' case."

"How do you know I wasn't the one related to her?"

"Because when she woke up, we asked her if she was related to the people she was staying with at the time, and she said you're her coach."

"Coaches that bring their team members in are supposed to get every piece of information you have on them!"

"You weren't here when Mr. Patch brought Miss Perkins in, Mrs. Patch."

"_Coach_ Patch. I was in here before her mother was, I let you guys know _who_ I was, and you _still_ denied me information on my team member, and she was at my house when this happened, I'm supposed to be filled in_ immediately_ on her condition."

"Well, I'm sorry, _Mrs._ Patch, but since her mother is here, we have to give the information to her."

"She's in the bathroom!"

"What's with the yelling, Yolanda?" a doctor asked, walking to the nurse's station.

"Mrs. Pa-" the nurse started.

"_Coach_ Patch!" Savannah corrected.

"_Coach_ _Patch_ is upset over our policy on information."

"What is it that upsets you, Coach Patch?" the doctor asked.

"My husband brought in my cheerleader because she passed out at our house, and when I came up and asked what was going on with her, _Yolanda_ decided that I'm unworthy to get that information," Savannah said.

"Who is your cheerleader?"

"Deidre Perkins."

"Is her mother here?"

"Yes, but she's in the bathroom."

"Well, Coach Patch, Deidre is doing just fine. She's awake, but she's pretty angry and snarky. It could be the medicine we gave her."

"I don't think the medicine had anything to do with it, she's like that all the time."

"Yolanda, any further information that Coach Patch would like to know about Deidre Perkins, she has every right to get it, whether or not the mother is here," the doctor said.

"Fine," Yolanda said.

"I'm Dr. Yothers," he said, looking at Savannah.

"Savannah Monroe," Savannah said.

"You said your name is Coach Patch," Yolanda said.

"Savannah Monroe Patch. Satisfied?"

"I'll be satisfied after you're sedated and put in a straight jacket," Yolanda muttered.

"Yolanda, get back to work and stop antagonizing the coach," Dr. Yothers said.

Savannah looked at Yolanda for a few seconds. "…Sedatives don't work on me, anyway."


	3. Chapter 3

**Monkeyr159:** You're about to find out!

**Nicky4055:** Thanks for reviewing!

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><p>"Deidre, the doctor specifically told you to stay off your damn feet and rest," Savannah said, in a slightly aggravated tone as she walked into the kitchen. "How the hell are you supposed to get better if you don't follow doctor's orders?"<p>

"Will you relax? I'm getting something to drink," Deidre said. To be honest, Savannah was on her last nerve, but she wasn't going to be rude to her. She was nice enough to let her stay with her and Dan until she was 'better'.

"This is the third time you gotten something to drink in the last hour and a half."

"I'm supposed to stay hydrated, remember? In fact, that's _all_ that I'm supposed to be doing. I need to go back home."

"If you go back home, you won't do what the doctor said."

"I would too."

"Liar."

"Mommy, I hundwy," Chloe said, toddling into the kitchen.

"You are? What do you want?" Savannah asked, picking Chloe up.

"I no know."

"Well, that doesn't help me any."

"Tell Mommy you want candy," Deidre said.

"Yeah, tandy!" Chloe said.

"No, no candy. Candy is not food. You can have a tootsie roll after lunch," Savannah said, putting Chloe in her high chair before looking at Deidre. "Really? Candy? What's wrong with you?" she said, getting into the refrigerator.

"Just handing out suggestions," Deidre said.

"You're being difficult on purpose."

"I am not."

"Yes, you are. Would you seriously let your child have candy for a meal?"

"If it got them to shut up, hell yeah."

"Bad!" Chloe said.

"That's right, that's a bad word," Savannah said. "My two-year-old has better speech than you, and she has a lisp and can't pronounce her C's, R's, or L's," she said, taking a carrot, apple and banana out of the fridge.

"You cussed at me earlier," Deidre said.

"Not with her in the room," she said as she started cutting the fruits and vegetable up.

"What are you doing?"

"Making my daughter a healthy snack to balance out that tootsie roll I promised her?"

"She's allergic to carrots."

Savannah stopped what she was doing and put her knife down, throwing the carrot away and putting the knife in the sink before grabbing a new one. "Thank you…" she said, chopping the ends of the apple and banana off.

"Are you okay?"

"I almost just killed my kid, no I'm not alright," her voice cracked.

"Savannah, you didn't almost kill her. She's fine."

"Mommy, I hundwy," Chloe said, drawing out her words.

"Just impatient."

"If I'd given her that carrot she would have died," Savannah said, getting into the fridge again and taking a container of strawberries out.

"But, she's fine. Look at her, she's over there tapping her nails on her tray and swinging her feet."

"It doesn't matter that she's fine right now, she could have _died_," she said.

"No she wouldn't have."

"I almost killed her when she was seven months old!" Savannah snapped. "Do you have any idea how fucking scared I was? I thought I lost my first and only child because of a stupid mistake I made! I didn't have her tested for any allergies before she started choking and throwing up, and eventually stopped breathing and turned purple! I almost killed her! I promised myself I'd never make that mistake again, and I almost do it a second time!"

Savannah started sobbing as Deidre stared at her, and Dan walked into the kitchen when Chloe started crying.

"What's going on? What's wrong with her?" Dan asked, taking Savannah into his embrace.

"She was going to give Chloe a carrot for lunch," Deidre said, picking Chloe up from the high chair.

"I could've killed her," Savannah sobbed.

"Babe… She's fine. She's okay. She was fine the first time."

"We almost lost her."

"But, we didn't, Babe, she's here and happy and healthy, and she's upset that Mommy's upset. Calm down, she's okay."

When Savannah started crying so hard she was coughing and gagging, Dan asked Deidre to keep an eye on Chloe and Seth. She was actually kind of honored that they trusted her with their kids. At least, Dan did.

Dan helped Savannah into their bathroom, and he wasn't even shocked when she made her way to the toilet and started vomiting. This had happened quite a few times. Whenever Savannah gets upset and starts crying, she always ends up throwing up. Dan pulled her hair back and he rubbed her back, hoping to calm her down a little.

It took a few minutes, but once Savannah was able to open her mouth without vomiting or dry heaving, she let out a small sob, sitting on the floor against the bath tub.

"Are you okay now?" Dan asked.

"No…"

"Gonna puke again?"

"No…"

"Babe, Chloe's fine… She'll be okay, she didn't eat any carrots."

"I don't feel good… I have a headache, I'm achy…"

"Your nose is bleeding."

Savannah wiped her nose, looking at her hand, only to find that it was true, and she leaned over the toilet, going into another vomiting episode.

* * *

><p>A few days later, Savannah was back to normal. Right now, she was in her office at Lancer, attempting to get some of their routines down on paper, but she kept getting confused. She didn't even look up when she heard her office door open.<p>

"Coach?"

"Yes, what is it?" she asked, furrowing her brow as she flipped back and forth between sheets.

"It's _your_ coach."

Savannah chuckled a little and she nodded. "That's nice, I don't even have a coach. I'm _the_ coach. You must be new."

"No, you're the new one. You have my job."

Savannah looked up and she gasped, before getting up from her desk and hugging Vanessa. "Oh my gosh, I've missed you!"

"Careful, careful, don't squish the kid."

This was the first time Savannah had noticed that Vanessa had an infant in her arms. "Oh my gosh, congratulations!"

"Thank you. I heard you just had a baby yourself."

"Two," she said, gesturing to the empty chair in front of her desk as she sat down.

"Twins?"

"No, no. I have a two-year-old and a two-month-old," she said, turning a picture around on her desk to show Vanessa. "Chloe and Seth."

"They're gorgeous. She's got Dan written all over her. You're still together?"

"We're married."

"Congratulations, how long?"

"Three years. What about you and Red?"

"We're not married, but we're engaged. We found out we were pregnant, so we decided to wait for the wedding until she was old enough to be in it."

"What's her name? How old is she?"

"_Savannah_ is two weeks old."

Savannah smiled and looked at the baby for a few seconds. "Aw, you named your baby after me?"

"It was actually Red's idea. I couldn't think of any names that I really liked, and he suggested naming her after someone that meant a lot to us. He suggested you right off the bat."

"That's a huge honor, Vanessa, thank you…"

"Oh, trust me, it's my pleasure. I wouldn't have her named after anybody else I know. How's everybody doing since I've been gone? I know I kind of disappeared without a word…"

"Well. Alice and Lewis are still together. Alice is my co-coach. Marti is dating Julian Parrish–"

"Her law professor?"

"The very same. They just found out they're having a baby last week."

"I hope they're happy with each other."

"They are. I'm expecting a call from Marti to brag about their engagement any day now. Julian's daughter's been begging them to get married."

Vanessa smiled. "Well, that's great. Is Dan still in film school?"

"Nope, he's a director. He only works locally, though. He used to fly to LA all the time, but when I got pregnant with Seth, he decided to stay in the Memphis area. He almost missed her birth."

"That's not good."

"He was on a flight back home when I went into labor. He came into the room right when he came out. It was impeccable timing."

"I'll say. You look amazing for someone that just had a baby two months ago."

"Thanks. It helps that I do as much practice as my cheerleaders do when I'm not working in here. You don't look too bad yourself, you look pretty slimmed down."

"She was a small baby. She was only four and a half pounds. We thought she was early."

"Chloe was ten pounds. Seth was eight."

"That had to have been painful."

Savannah nodded, but sighed when her door opened and little Chloe came running over to her. "Chloe Danielle, what are you doing here?"

"She's running away from me, that's what she's doing. I did my best in keeping the kid entertained. I even had Lewis helping me with them, and she _still_ ran. How you don't go insane with her at home, I'll never know," Alice said, walking into the office.

"Chloe, you were supposed to be a good girl for Aunt Alice."

"I dood dirl," Chloe said.

As Alice sat down on the couch and laid Seth against her chest, she finally noticed Vanessa and smile. "Hey! I didn't see you in here, how are you?" she asked.

"I'm great," Vanessa said. "Yourself?"

"I could be better if I weren't playing mommy."

"Hey, I told you I'd get a babysitter, but _nooo_, Aunt Alice needs her baby time," Savannah said, placing Chloe into her lap.

"Yeah, _baby_ time, not toddler-that-runs-around-everywhere time."

"I'll make you baby sit if you keep being mean to my precious angel."

"Your precious angel is a devious devil. She threw one of the weights at Deidre."

"In all fairness, Deidre probably deserved it. How did a two-year-old manage to lift a weight?"

"She's got skills and power."

"You just said something nice about her."

"…No I didn't."

"You did, you complimented her. I win."

"Damn it."

* * *

><p>Savannah smiled, walking into hers and Dan's room, closing the door behind her. She had on one of his t-shirts to sleep in. She knew he loved it when she wore his clothes. It turned him on. Every little thing she did turned him on. He definitely let her know it, too.<p>

Dan looked from the TV over to Savannah, and he smiled a little. "What are you smiley about?" he asked.

Savannah crawled onto the bed and she took the remote out of his hands, turning the TV off before letting the remote fall to the floor as she straddled him, kissing his neck.

"Are you feeling okay? This is the first time you've wanted anything to do with sex since you were seven months pregnant with Seth," Dan said.

"I had a doctor's appointment this afternoon," she said, sliding his shirt up and over his head.

"And?"

"And, I finally got the okay for sex," she said as her hands slid to his boxers.

"Really, now? And, are you going to be controlling?"

"You bet your ass I'm gonna be controlling. I couldn't be on top when I was pregnant, so it's my turn to torture you."

"Torture away, Mrs. Patch."

Savannah's lips brushed over his as she slid his boxers down, and she gasped, being suddenly flipped over on her back. "Ugh, that's not fair," she said.

"You left me with the kids all day. _That's_ not fair," Dan said, pressing his thumb against her center.

Savannah bit her lip a little and she pushed her hips up. "I get the top at some point."

"We'll see," he said, sliding her underwear off.

Savannah took the shirt off that she was wearing, and she threw it to the floor. "If you're going to tease me, at least make it feel good."

"I always make it feel good," Dan said, kissing between her breasts.

Savannah's breath heavied as Dan's tongue circled around her nipple, and she pushed his head away lightly. "Don't do that, you'll get a mouth full of breast milk," she said.

"Ugh, that's not fair," he said, laying his head on her stomach. "Why do babies get the good stuff?"

"Um, you _are_ getting the good stuff."

"And, what good stuff would that be?"

"It's between my legs, being ignored, and I can control your life with it."

Dan laughed, kissing her lips lightly. "It won't be ignored for long," he said, scooting down.

In all honesty, Savannah was nervous when she saw Dan inching closer and closer to her woman hood. They'd only performed oral sex of each other a few times, and those times were before they even had vaginal intercourse. Before she gave herself to him, the closest thing to sex they got for almost two years, was getting each other off, and that was usually done with their hands.

Her breath hitched in her throat, feeling his tongue against that magic stimulation spot, and she grasped the sheets in her hands tightly. With every swivel of his tongue and suck of his mouth, she wriggled more and more.

The room started spinning, she started seeing stars in her eyes, and she pushed herself into Dan's mouth with a moan as she felt herself throbbing from her orgasm. It took a few minutes for her to finally get her sight back, and for the room to stop spinning, before she noticed that he was hovering over her.

"Is it feeling good yet?" Dan asked.

Savannah nodded, still breathing heavily. "Uh huh…"

"Still can't talk yet?"

She shook her head. "Huh uh…"

Dan laughed a little, and he kissed her neck, sliding his hands over her stomach. "Do we need to worry about another Chloe or Seth?"

"I just got off my period two days ago, we'll be fine."

"Ready?" he asked, pressing himself against her.

"_I_ get to start, remember?"

"No, I said you could be on top at some point."

"Well, that point is now."

"Why?"

Savannah reached her hand down and wrapped her hand around him, earning a moan from Dan. She grinned and raised an eyebrow. "I'm in control. From the bottom, no less," she said, before flipping them over.

"Okay, okay, you win," Dan said.

"I know."

She kissed Dan's neck lightly, and she took him in her hand again, positioning herself over him.

"Be careful. It always hurts the first time and then you end up sick in bed for three days," Dan said.

"Well, do something that'll distract me, then."

The second she said it, his thumb started circling around her clit, and she rested her head on his shoulder, moaning lightly. She slid herself onto him slowly, but stopped, letting out a small grunt.

"What's wrong?" Dan asked.

"I can't go all the way down…"

Dan turned them over carefully, and he pushed into her a little, but stopped when she gasped. "What?"

"It hurts. I'm fine. It happens every time when we get the okay."

"Yeah, but you aren't usually in tears every other time."

"I'm not crying," her voice cracked.

"You're about to. Savannah, if it hurts, we're not gonna do anything."

"I'm fine, Dan."

"No, you're not. You're tense, and you're not relaxing."

"I'm relaxing as much as I can."

"You're not ready," he said, starting to slide out of her.

"Ow!" she said with a sob.

"Relax, Babe."

"I am, just get out, it hurts!"

Dan slid out of her quickly and carefully, but still felt guilty that Savannah started crying even more and harder. "Savannah, it's never hurt this bad before. You've never been that tense."

"I can't breathe, I can't breathe," she sobbed, fanning her hands.

"Where's your inhaler?"

"I don't know, I haven't had to use it in forever. Hurry, I can't breathe…"

Dan got up from the bed and he went over to their dresser, shuffling through the drawers, before finally finding the pink inhaler. He went back over to Savannah and he handed it to her, watching her finally calm down after she took a few hits from it.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I can breathe, but I still hurt…" Savannah said.

"We're going to the hospital," he said, pulling his boxers on.

"Are you kidding? It's the middle of the night, Dan."

"Hospitals never close."

"I'm fine, this happens every time after we get the okay from my doctor."

"You've never cried, and you've never gone into an asthma attack like that."

"Dan, I am not explaining that we were trying to have sex and it went wrong, that's embarrassing."

"Savannah, I couldn't even get all the way in. You're too tense and you're not ready, and it was so painful when I was pulling out, you started crying. That's never happened before," he said, pulling some jeans and a shirt on. "Get dressed, we're going to the hospital."

"But–"

"Now."

Savannah stared at Dan for a few seconds and sighed, holding her hand out. "Give me my underwear."


	4. Chapter 4

This chapter's a little shorter than the others are, but I'll make the next chapter longer for sure!

**xSuchAHotMess: **Thanks for reviewing!

**Hellcatsfan: **Here it is :)

**Tizzy Fran: **Thanks for reviewing! I appreciate it!

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><p>Savannah stared at the wall, twiddling her thumbs. She was stuck in this uncomfortable hospital bed and couldn't go anywhere. She was scared to death about what was going to happen to her, to Dan, to Seth and Chloe. She didn't want this to be happening to her. Unfortunately, it was, and she wasn't happy with it. No one in their right mind would be happy with it.<p>

She didn't even look up when she heard the door open and close softly.

"Savannah?" Marti asked, walking over to her bed. Savannah didn't answer. She was still too pissed off. Marti watched the tears slide down her face and she sighed lightly. "…Savannah. What's going on? Dan said something was wrong, and he wouldn't tell me."

Savannah sniffled and stayed quiet for a few seconds. "…Cancer…"

"Wh… What?"

"I have cervical cancer."

"Oh, god, Savannah… I-I'm… I'm so sorry…"

"Why does everything always happen to _me_?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I almost lost Dan… More than once. I almost lost Chloe when she was seven months old… I almost killed her earlier this afternoon. I try to have sex with my husband after four, long, agonizing sex-free months, and I can't even do that right."

"What? What happened?"

"I got the okay from my doctor to have sex again. We tried, and it hurt like hell. He couldn't even pull out without it hurting, I thought I was being ripped apart…"

"And that's how you found out?"

Savannah nodded.

"What are they going to do to get rid of it?" Marti asked.

"They're going to do a laser surgery. They say that sometimes it doesn't work the first time and they have to do it again. They're going to use an endoscope to do it."

"At least it's an easy treatment…"

"Yeah…"

Marti looked at Savannah for a few seconds. She watched her face screw up, and Marti ran her hand over Savannah's back as she sobbed, before hugging her. "You're gonna be okay, Savannah," she said. "You always pull through, no matter what's going on. You'll be fine."

Savannah sobbed again and she buried her face into Marti's shoulder. "I'm so scared… What's gonna happen if this is more serious than they think? What if it's too late to treat it? What's going to happen to my babies? I don't want them to lose their mommy…"

"They won't, Savannah. They won't. I promise you that. You're going to be fine, the kids will be fine. Everything is going to be fine. Where's that perky, positive thinking optimist at that I met six years ago?"

"She grew up and realized that nothing is ever really a happy thing, and that life can end before you plan…"

Marti ran her hand through Savannah's hair lightly and she sighed a little. "Okay. I'm gonna be you."

"What?"

"I'm gonna pretend I'm six years younger, and I'm gonna pretend that I'm that girl I met when I first started at Lancer. You know, that really annoying, peppy, happy girl that was always really bouncy and annoyed the hell out of everybody, but everybody loved her anyways?"

"Marti…"

"Look at me."

"Please…"

"_Look_ at me."

Savannah looked at Marti, tears still sliding down her cheeks. "…What?" she whispered.

"You will be _fine_," Marti said, putting her hands on Savannah's cheeks. "You'll get through this, just like all the other hard times in your life."

"I've never been through something like this before…"

"I have a _list_ of good and bad things I can give you."

"You do not."

"When you were nine, you lost your best friend because you accidentally killed her tarantulas, but you reunited with her eleven years later. When you were eighteen, you lost your family because you switched schools. When you were twenty-one, you were almost raped, you had your heart broken _twice_, and you almost lost your nephew because he was over a month premature. When you were twenty-two, you were told that you couldn't get pregnant, so you _deliberately_ lost your virginity just so you could prove those doctors wrong. When you were twenty-five, you_ did_ prove those doctors wrong and you gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Chloe, who is the most hyper, annoyingly optimistic and positive child in the world, so it's no doubt she's yours. You almost lost her when she was seven months old. You were told again at twenty-six that you might not be able to conceive again, and four months later, you were jumping up and down, crying your eyes out because all fifteen pregnancy tests that you took came out positive. At twenty-seven, you gave birth to an extremely handsome little boy named Seth, who gave you in return, the most amazing looking boobs you've ever had. Now, you're going through another tough time, but just like all those other times, you're going to get through it. I promise you that, Savannah."

Savannah sobbed again and she shook her head. "You don't know that… No one does. Not even the doctors."

"Honey, you have to believe in yourself. You're going to be fine, and I'm going to be just as annoying and positive and optimistic as you've always been to me since day one… Even though you tried to bitch slap me the first second we met."

Savannah let out a small laugh through her tears. "…It was three minutes and seven seconds."

"See, there's that laugh… You're gonna be okay. Positive outcomes only."

Savannah nodded. "Yeah… I will."

"Okay… Do you want Chloe and Seth?"

"Yes."

"Alright. I'm taking them back to your place in a little bit so Dan can stay here with you. Should I be disinfecting your bed before I get in it?"

Savannah stayed silent for a few seconds. "…We didn't get very far."

"…I'm changing the sheets and flipping the mattress."

* * *

><p>"Six weeks? Jesus Christ, we've already waited four months," Dan said.<p>

"That may be, Mr. Patch, but your wife's surgery was successful as far as we can tell and we want her to be completely healed and comfortable before engaging in any sexual activity," Dr. Williams said.

"But, six weeks?"

"It doesn't have to be that long. It's usually just a couple weeks wait, but since Mrs. Patch had such a painful experience trying to have sex, I'd rather her wait until I can check her out again."

"You'll get over it, Dan," Savannah said. "If you can wait four months, you can wait six more weeks."

"But, that's cruel…" Dan said.

"Oh, whatever. You'll live. Our relationship is not based solely on sex."

"It used to be."

"When we were twenty-two it was. We were proving to the world that anything could happen, and we did. All that sex got us a little girl," Savannah said, before looking at Dr. Williams. "Is there any way you could tell me my fertility?"

"If you have two kids already, I'd say you're pretty likely to have another baby," Dr. Williams said.

"Those two kids were miracles. I was told I wouldn't be able to conceive at all, and then after I had my daughter I was told I wouldn't be able to conceive again."

"I can make a fertility percentage, but I don't see why you'd have any complications conceiving a third or fourth time, or anything beyond that, unless you're having irregular periods, or just not trying to conceive when you're ovulating. I can give you an ovulation chart if you'd like, so the next child you plan on conceiving, you'll know what days you're most likely to conceive."

"Are ovulation charts accurate?"

"They've worked for the majority of my patients. I'll get you one during our next appointment, since you won't be needing it until after then. I'll do that fertility test, too. Since the cancer's cleared up and the surgery was successful, you can go home as soon as you're up and around. Are you having any problems urinating, or burning during urination?"

"No."

"Alright, then. You're free to go. The pamphlets I gave you about the cervical cancer has my number on it, so if you have an questions about anything, just give me a call."

"Thank you, Dr. Williams."

"You're very welcome, Mr. and Mrs. Patch."

Savannah shifted in her bed as Dr. Williams left the room, and she looked at Dan. "Did you bring my clothes?"

Dan looked at Savannah for a few seconds. "…Was I supposed to?"


	5. Chapter 5

**xSuchAHotMess: **Only time will tell!

**Hellcatsrulz: **Thanks for reviewing!

**Tizzy Fran: **Thanks! It means a lot :)

* * *

><p>"Come on, it's been five weeks, one week can't make that much of a difference, can it?"<p>

"Yeah, actually, it can. We have to follow doctor's orders."

"Come on, this isn't fair."

"You're the one that said you could wait longer than me. Deal with it."

"Dan…"

Dan laughed a little as they walked into the kitchen and he ran his hand through Savannah's hair, kissing her head. "As much as I want to, we both know that if you go against your doctor's orders, you'll get chewed out."

"She said no sex, she didn't say anything about any other sexual contact. You just think it's funny that I'm the one going crazy this time," she said, hopping up on the counter.

"I do, because you said, and I quote, if you can wait four months, you can wait six more weeks. Now it's only one more week. You can do it. You're strong."

"And horny."

"But, strong. The second you get the okay, we can do whatever you want."

"Mhm."

"I promise. I'll even do that _thing_ that makes you crazy," he said, standing between her legs and kissing her neck lightly.

Savannah raised an eyebrow. "Okay, you did that _once_ and it was an accident."

"I'll figure it out again. Do we have a deal?" he asked, sliding his hand over her thigh.

"Maybe…"

"Just maybe?"

Savannah bit her lip lightly as Dan pressed his hand to her, and she pushed her hips forward a little. "If you're gonna tease me, I'm gonna do it right back," she said.

"You're already running around in a shirt and underwear, that's not teasing me?"

"I have a bikini on under this shirt, those are not my underwear."

"Well, you're still teasing."

"I am not."

Savannah pulled Dan closer, and she kissed his lips lightly. "Stop teasing me, or do something about it. I'd be more than willing to replace you with a vibrator."

"We can't have sex, remember?" he said, kissing her neck.

"I don't need sex."

"You were four square against any sexual activity except making out when your surgery was done."

"Yeah, well, now I'm begging for it, so please stop teasing me."

Dan slid his thumb over her through her bikini bottoms, and Savannah bit her lip again.

"Dan…" Savannah said, letting her hand grip his hair a little.

"Hm?"

"You know what."

Dan laughed and pulled the front of her bottoms down a little, sliding his thumb over her again. "Better?"

"You're still teasing me."

"It's not teasing if I keep going, Savannah."

"Then, keep going."

Dan kissed her neck again, sucking on her sweet spot lightly. Savannah's hand played with the hair on the back of his neck, while her other hand rested on the counter, to keep her propped up.

"Baby…" she whispered, pushing her hips into his thumb.

"Hm?"

"…Ugh, god…"

"Is it working, or are you still wanting to jump the gun?"

"Shut up. You're ruining the moment."

"Didn't know we had a moment," he said, kissing her shoulder.

Dan pulled her shirt up a little, kissing her stomach, and he chuckled a little when Savannah pushed his head down. "Well, aren't we in a hurry," he said before sliding his tongue over her.

Savannah let out a small breath, gripping the edge of the counter, making her knuckles turn white. She ran her fingers through his hair and let out a small moan, biting her lip.

"Mommy, brudder s'ink!" Chloe said running into the kitchen, as Savannah pulled Dan up to her stomach.

"Okay, I'll be there in a minute," Savannah said.

"Wha'doin?"

"Mommy's tummy doesn't feel good, so I was kissing it to make it feel better," Dan said.

"Mommy's tummy feel dood now?"

"It will in a minute."

"Go back to your brother's room and keep him company," Savannah said.

"But, brudder s'ink," Chloe said.

"I know, I'll change him in a minute. Go back in there with him. Now."

Chloe rolled her eyes and ran out of the room, and Savannah looked at Dan when he laughed.

"That was not funny. We're just lucky she's only two and can forget about what she sees in five minutes," Savannah said.

"She's gonna catch us one of these days," Dan said.

"Move so I can go change him."

"Why the rush? She left, we can continue," he said, pressing his thumb against her.

"If you make it fast, I'll return the favor after the kids go to bed tonight."

"You never return the favor, you gag."

"I didn't say I was gonna do that, I said I'd return the favor," she said, moving her hips against his thumb.

"I like a little mystery," he said, moving his thumb a little faster.

Savannah gripped the counter and she let out a moan as she finally came, and she rocked her hips a little, laying her head on Dan's shoulder.

"Okay now?" Dan asked.

Savannah nodded as she steadied her breath, and she fixed her bottoms before getting down off the counter.

"Mommy, brudder s'ill s'ink!" Chloe shouted.

* * *

><p>Savannah walked into Lancer with Seth's carrier and she let the doors close behind her as she walked down the hall.<p>

"Hey, Mrs. P," Hannah said.

"Hi, Hannah. How's the baby growing?"

"Great. I'm seven weeks. My doctor doesn't know what it is yet, but I can't wait to find out."

"Morning sickness hit you yet?"

"Sometimes. I'm fine today. Yesterday I was a mess. I couldn't even come in to my classes."

"I expect to see you in _my_ class this afternoon."

"I will be. Hey, where's Chloe?"

"She woke up throwing up so I left her with my husband," she said as they walked into the gym. "Start practicing, Hellcats, you have until one-thirty," she said.

"Can we talk before we start?" Deidre asked.

"Yeah. Everyone else can start. Come with me. Hannah, will you watch Seth please?"

"Sure," Hannah said, taking Seth's carrier.

Savannah walked into her office with Deidre and she sat at her desk, turning on her computer. "What is it?"

"Marti called me," Deidre said.

"She did?"

"Yeah. She apologized."

"For what?"

"Everything. For being a bitch the last four years, for not visiting me in the hospital."

"Well, at least she's being mature about it."

"Did you know she was pregnant?"

Savannah nodded. "Yeah. I found out the day you were in the hospital."

"You could have told me."

"It wasn't my business to tell, Deidre. I'm sure I would have told you eventually."

"When? After the kid was born?"

Savannah looked at Deidre and furrowed her brow. "You know, don't get mad at me just because I didn't tell you about your sister being pregnant. That is _not_ my responsibility, job, or business to tell. It's Marti's. She told you. It's over."

"You still could have told me."

"Did you have anything more important to tell me? If not, then get out of my office. I'm not gonna deal with an attitude today, Deidre. I have a sick two-year-old at home and I'm not in the mood to argue."

"You're being a bigger bitch than Marti was," Deidre said, standing up. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were pregnant again."

"I'm not pregnant."

"You said that last time and you were pregnant with Seth."

"I haven't had sex since I was seven months pregnant with Seth. I assure you I'm not pregnant. I'm just not having a very good morning. Don't cross fire with me."

"Whatever," Deidre said, leaving the room.

Savannah sighed and she ran her hand through her hair, before walking out of the office. "I want you guys to do your best during this practice, we only have a few weeks to Qualifiers, and you're still not doing as well as you should be," she called out.

"Why don't _you_ try doing all these damn stunts and moves? It's not easy, you know," Casey snapped.

Savannah looked at Casey for a few seconds and pointed to a picture above her office door. "Casey, that picture is _my_ Hellcats team when I was a cheerleader here. I was the captain, I was the best flyer and overall, the best on the whole damn team. It's _not_ that hard. I was doing stunts that only professionals should be doing when I was thirteen years old, and I got better and better every day."

"Well, we're not you, so stop trying to _make_ us you."

"I'm trying to make you as _good_ as me. Only one person is even _close_ to it, and that's Deidre."

"Because you favor her."

"_Favor_ her? Bull shit! She drives me up the fucking _wall._ I haven't been able to stand her since I met her, but I tolerate her because she's a really good friend of mine."

"You always have her in your office to help her with something, you never do that with anyone else."

"I tell you guys every damn day that if you need to talk to me, I'm right in my office. Is it my fault that only Deidre has the guts to actually talk about her problems?"

"Like her deadbeat sister?"

"Hey!" Deidre snapped. "Talk shit on my sister again. I dare you."

"You talk about her like she's a piece of garbage!" Casey said.

"She's _my_ piece of garbage! I'm allowed to talk shit on her, and so is Savannah! No one else has the right to even _think_ about her!"

"Alright, knock it off!" Savannah snapped. "You two aren't going to start a fight in my gym."

"You're only stepping in because Deidre's part of it. You don't care about any of us _but_ Deidre," Casey said.

"That's not true," Hannah said. "Mrs. Patch has been here for me since day one, and she didn't even know me. I go to her with all of my problems, and she actually listens. She doesn't brush you off like the counselors do. She _cares_. She has a heart. When you say things like that, and disrespect her, you're _breaking_ her heart."

"Yeah, right. She's the strictest coach in cheer leading history. She's the biggest bitch in the school. I'd rather have Alice as our coach."

"I _am_ your coach," Alice said, appearing next to Savannah. "You know what, Casey? I don't like your attitude. I also don't like the way you're treating Savannah or any of the other cheerleaders. You're a jealous bitch that thinks she's the best at everything. You're _not_ the best. At anything. In fact, you _suck_ at cheer leading, and even Savannah's admitted that, but did she kick you off the team? No. Because she cares, and she knows that this is your scholarship, and she doesn't want you to have to end up dropping out of school and screwing up your life. She's a hard ass with you, because she wants you to be better, because if you _don't_ get better, then she _has_ to kick you off the team. She doesn't want you to have to lose everything you've worked so hard for, just to go back home and struggle to raise your son."

"I-I don't have a son, I don't know what you're talking about," Casey said, crossing her arms.

"You can't fool me. I know he was a secret from everyone else. You shouldn't keep secrets from your family."

"You guys aren't my family."

"This whole team is a family, Casey," Savannah said. "A family sticks by you, no matter what. No matter how big a bitch you are, no matter how many secrets you have, or how big they are, that doesn't matter. A family shouldn't have secrets. A family shares."

"You're not my family."

Savannah stared at Casey for a few seconds. "I want everybody out of this gym. I have some business to handle. Deidre, keep an eye on Seth. If he's too much to handle, take him to daycare."

"But, we're supposed to be practicing," Deidre said.

"You can practice tonight."

Once every one cleared out of the gym, Savannah kept her eyes on Casey, who stood in the middle of the room, arms crossed and eyes adverted to the floor.

"So. You gonna tell me what that was about?" Savannah asked.

"What was what about?" Casey asked.

"You have a son? Why wasn't I notified of this? How did Alice know?"

"Because Alice is a manipulative bitch that can get any source of information out of you by staring."

Savannah held back a chuckle. "I'll give you that. But, you still could have told me. How many times have I offered to talk, Casey? …Countless. I tell you guys every day, if you have something you need to get off your chest, or if you're having issues, or just want to talk, to come to me, and I'd be happy to listen."

"I don't like people knowing about him, okay? It's embarrassing."

"Oh, so your son embarrasses you?"

"No, I didn't say that."

"It's what it sounded like. What could possibly be so embarrassing about having a baby?"

"I'm twenty-one and he's seven, that's why it's embarrassing."

Savannah shrugged. "So, you were young when you had him. Big deal? My sister was only nineteen when she had my nephew."

"Yeah, nineteen is a lot older than fourteen."

"Casey, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a teenaged mother."

"Everyone thinks I'm a slut because of it."

"Tell me something, Casey; do you sleep around?"

Casey stayed silent for a few seconds before shrugging. "I guess I do… But, still."

"Casey, _that_ is what makes people think you're a slut. Having a baby doesn't do that. Having a baby is a blessing. It's a miracle. It's the most wonderful thing a mother could ever receive."

"Not when your son's father ditches you because he's not ready."

"I imagine it's hard, but that doesn't make that little boy any less important to you, does it?"

"No…"

Savannah watched Casey's eyes fill with tears. "You know, I was told I couldn't even have kids."

"…But, you have two."

Savannah nodded. "They're my miracle babies. I tried almost every day for three years to get pregnant, just to prove that I could do it. And I did it; I got pregnant with Chloe. After I had her, I was told that another baby would be impossible to conceive. I tried almost every day for two more years, and got pregnant with Seth. Life comes to you with hardships, Casey. Everyone goes through them. Even those Disney kids, that seem to have everything handed to them. They have to go through hell."

"I doubt it, they're like, millionaires."

"The High School Musical kids? _Billionaires_. Look at the magazines and the Internet about those kids. They're grown adults. The girls are being followed around by forty-year-old men just for a stupid picture. They get _hounded_ just for their name on a piece of paper or a picture. I bet if they knew that their lives would be like this, they would have chosen other careers."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"I'm trying to say, that you could have it worse. You could be going through what those people are going through. They have no privacy. I can't go a day without seeing that one girl that's always going to the coffee shop. Who cares that she likes that crap? It's her business, why does the world need to know it? …Look, Casey, I know what I'm saying doesn't make a lot of sense to you now, but when you're older, you're going to know exactly what I meant."

Casey's tears fell down her cheeks and she sniffled. "…I already have it bad. If I had it any worse, I'd end up depressed."

"You're already depressed. I can see it in your eyes… Tell me, Casey; how much do you love your son?"

"More than anything… He's my world. I'd sacrifice my life for him."

"What is it that makes it hard?"

"Not seeing him as often as I want to… I mean, I've got school, cheer leading, work… I'm lucky if I get to read him a bedtime story when I get home. He's usually asleep."

"Does he like sports?"

"Yeah."

"What's his favorite?"

"…Believe it or not, cheer leading. I think that's only because of me."

"I'll tell you what… You start upping your game on the team, show me that you _really_ want this, and you can bring him in during practices just to have that extra time with him. I bet he'd enjoy it."

Casey looked at Savannah. "…Really?"

Savannah nodded. "Really."

"For real?"

"Not for fake."

"Oh my gosh, Coach, thank you!" Casey said, hugging Savannah.

"Just one more thing."

"What is it?"

"If you ever call me a bitch again, it's _on_."


	6. Chapter 6

"Are you aware that Deidre's not here?" Alice asked, walking into the gymnasium and standing by Savannah.

Savannah nodded, watching the Hellcats practicing their routine. "I'm aware."

"And you're not livid?"

"I know where she is and I know why she's not here, I'm not concerned."

"Why isn't she here?"

"She's falling behind in class. I told her to take a day or two to get caught up. She already knows the routine. She'll be fine."

"But-"

"Alice, she'll be fine."

"Savannah, you can not keep favoring Deidre."

"I'm not favoring her. If anyone else was falling behind, I'd have them focus on their studies, too."

"No you wouldn't."

"Yes, I would," Savannah said, walking to her office. "You can think what you want. I'm not being unfair."

"You are, too," Alice said, following her. "There are four other kids on this squad that are failing their classes because they have to practice so much."

"Well, maybe they should talk to me, then. Alice, if they can't keep their grades up and be on the squad, then they don't need to be on the squad. I'm giving Deidre time to get caught up on her school work. She'll be back on Friday."

"Fine. But, you have to stop giving her special advantages."

"I'm not giving her special advantages, Alice, I told you what I was doing."

"Savannah!" Julian's voice shouted from the gym.

Savannah and Alice looked at each other, before Savannah rushed out of her office. "What is it?" she asked.

"It's Marti, she's cramping up really bad and she feels sick to her stomach. I don't know what to do, I don't know what's wrong."

"Where is she?"

"She was sitting in on my class and she just started crying and grabbing her stomach."

Savannah rushed out of the gym with Julian, and once they got to his class, they both ran down the steps. Savannah pushed her way through the students and she knelt next to Marti with Julian. "What happened? What's wrong?" she asked.

"It hurts!" Marti said, sobbing.

"Everybody needs to get out of the way and sit down. Get away from her."

"What's going on?" Julian asked.

"I don't–" Savannah's eyes caught a glimpse of Marti's jeans. She felt her eyes tear up when she saw blood soaking through the material. "No, no, no, Julian, call an ambulance, she's bleeding."

"Why is she bleeding?"

"Just do it."

"What's wrong with me?" Marti asked through a sob.

"I don't know, Marti, we're getting you to the hospital so we can find out."

"Isn't it faster to take her yourselves?" A student asked.

Savannah thought for a few seconds and she nodded. "Yeah, it is. Julian, forget the ambulance, let's just take her to the hospital," she said, standing up.

"But, we aren't doctors, we don't know what to do," Julian said.

"Yeah, I know that, but the ambulance is gonna take ten minutes to get here, and it takes ten more minutes to get to the hospital. If we take her ourselves, we'll be there in ten minutes."

"Class is canceled until Monday, everybody clear out," he said, picking Marti up.

"There's blood all over the floor," another student said.

"Call a janitor," Savannah said. "Everybody stay away from it, especially those of you with open wounds. Just get out of the room and let a janitor know what happened, and someone get to the dean and let him know," she said, running up the stairs after Julian.

"What are we gonna do, Savannah?" Julian asked as they raced down the hall.

"We're gonna save her life, now run faster."

* * *

><p>Savannah looked over to Julian. He'd been in the same position for the last two hours. He was leaned over in the chair with his head in his hands, occasionally sniffling. She felt terrible for not telling him what she thought and knew was wrong with Marti. How was she supposed to tell him she thought his fiance was miscarrying? She didn't want to be the bearer of bad news. She didn't want to be the one to break his heart. He was excited for that baby, and Savannah knew it would crush him and Marti if that baby no longer existed.<p>

"Mr. Parrish, Mrs. Patch?"

Savannah and Julian both looked up, somewhat relieved to see a doctor approaching them. They both stood up, and Savannah held her breath, terrified of what they were about to hear.

"You're both here about Martina Perkins?"

"Yes, I'm her fiance, Mrs. Patch is a close friend," Julian said.

"I'm Dr. Gibson. I'm the doctor that saw to Miss Perkins."

"What's wrong with her?"

"I'm very sorry to inform you that your fiance went through a miscarriage."

Savannah covered her mouth, tears filling her eyes. "…Oh, god," she whispered. "Is Marti alright?"

"She's fine, but we'd like to keep her in the hospital overnight for observation to make sure she's stable."

Savannah nodded, and Dr. Gibson left the waiting room. She looked at Julian for a few seconds, before easily pulling him into a hug, wrapping her arms around his neck lightly. "I'm so sorry, Julian…" she whispered as her voice cracked.

Tears slid down her face a little quicker when she felt Julian's body shuddering with silent sobs, and she ran her hand over his back slowly. She took it as a good sign when he wrapped his arms around her waist. Savannah couldn't even imagine what was going on through his mind. She didn't know how she'd deal with losing a baby. The only thing she could think about right now is how bad she felt for her friends, as she and Julian stayed locked in their friendly embrace.

* * *

><p>"Mommy!" Chloe sobbed, running into Dan and Savannah's room.<p>

Savannah sat up in bed and she picked Chloe up, kissing her head lightly. "What's wrong, Sweetie?" she asked.

"Mons'er!"

"A monster?"

"Yeah!"

"Honey, there aren't any monsters."

"Yeah, mons'er in twoset!"

"Okay, calm down. You're okay," she said, laying down with Chloe. "You can stay in here with Mommy and Daddy. It's alright."

"Is she okay?" Dan asked, turning over to face them.

"She says there's a monster in her closet, Daddy."

"There's no such thing as monsters," he said, kissing Chloe's head.

"Yeah, mons'er in twoset!" Chloe sobbed before coughing.

"Okay, you need to calm down. You're gonna make yourself sick," Savannah said. "Daddy, go get rid of the monster in her closet and check on Seth while you're up."

"But, there's no monster in her closet," Dan whispered.

"She says there's a monster in her closet, go get rid of it. Now."

"Fine…"

Savannah looked at Chloe as Dan left the room and she ran her hand through her hair. "Daddy's gonna get rid of the monster."

"Mons'er go bye bye?" Chloe asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah. Daddy's making it leave. It won't come back."

"Otay…"

"Okay," Savannah said, kissing her cheek. "Go night night."

"I no s'eepy."

"Yeah you are, you need to sleep."

"No, I no s'eepy…"

"Yes, you are."

"I hundwy."

"Honey, it's late. Please sleep."

"No, I no s'eepy, I hundwy."

Savannah sighed and she sat back up, laying Chloe in her arms, and she pulled her shirt up, getting Chloe positioned to her breast.

"The monster's gone, Seth's asleep and why are you nursing her? She's two," Dan said, walking back into the room.

"She's hungry, I'm not getting up at two in the morning to make something."

"She's too old to be breast fed."

"Yeah, well, if you were me and you were woken up by a crying two-year-old because of an invisible monster in her closet and then she decided she was hungry, you'd be breast feeding, too. Trust me."

"She's almost three, Savannah."

"Do I look like I care? It's one time, Dan. Go to sleep."

"Whatever. Don't complain to me when she starts wanting to nurse all the time."

Savannah stared at Dan for a few seconds and she sighed, shaking her head. "You're being an ass."

"Whatever, I don't care."

Savannah sighed angrily and got up from the bed carefully so she wouldn't drop Chloe. Her phone started ringing so she picked it up and put it up to her ear on her way out of the room. "Hello?"

_"Savannah…"_ Marti said quietly.

"…Hey. How you feeling?"

_"Like shit."_

"I'm sorry…"

_"What am I gonna do?"_ Marti asked as her voice cracked. _"I don't know what to do, I've never gone through this before…"_

"And I hope you never, ever have to go through it again…"

_"I'm so scared… Julian won't even talk. He just keeps staring off into space and staring at my stomach like it's gonna bring the baby back…"_

Savannah sat on the couch in the living room and she looked at Chloe for a few seconds. "You guys can always try again. Everything happens for a reason. Maybe God has other plans for you."

_"Why can't he just let things go my way? I **wanted** that baby…"_

"I know…"

Marti sniffled. _"Look, I'm sorry to call so late. I'm sorry if I woke you up."_

"You didn't. I'm feeding Chloe so I was already up."

_"Feeding her? You know she's two, right?"_

"Yes…"

_"And she has **teeth**."_

"She hasn't injured me with her teeth yet. She had a nightmare. Said monsters were in her closet, and then she said she was hungry, so I just took the easy way out. Dan's pissed about it."

_"Well, two **is** kind of old to still be breast feeding."_

"It's two in the morning, there is no way in hell I'm preparing a meal for her to get hyper on. She's falling asleep, anyway. Nursing is easier to get them to sleep in the middle of the night."

_"You know, I heard of this eight-year-old little girl that's still breast fed."_

"That's disgusting."

_"Yeah, I know… Well, I guess I'll let you go…"_

"Okay… Feel better. Send Julian my love, even though he thinks it's unprofessional," she said with a small smile.

_"Will do, Patch. Give the babies kisses."_

"I will. Night."

_"Night."_

Savannah let out a small breath as she hung up her phone and she looked at Chloe for a few seconds, running her hand through her soft curls. "You really _are_ getting too big for this. It stops tonight," she said, getting a grunt from Chloe in return.


	7. Chapter 7

"Chloe Danielle Patch, if I have to tell you one more time to leave your brother's god damn binky alone, I'm going to bust your ass," Savannah said in a hushed, annoyed tone. She'd planned a visit with Marti at the hospital, and she decided to bring Chloe and Seth with her so they could see her, but Chloe was really starting to push her buttons.

"Brudder frow nunu down," Chloe said.

"Well pick it up and put it back in his mouth, but do not touch it again."

"Otayyy," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes at me. I'm your mother, you only get away with rolling your eyes at your father and Aunt Alice."

"Wha'eber."

"Did you just 'whatever' me?"

"Savannah Patch?" A voice called.

Savannah looked towards the doorway. "That's me."

"You're all set to go in, now. I'm sorry it took so long, we were just changing a few IV's. She's in room eight."

"Thank you," she said, standing up. Savannah picked up Seth's carrier and she took Chloe's hand in hers, and walked down the hallway.

"Mommy, where goin'?" Chloe asked.

"We're gonna see Aunt Marti."

"I see Mawti?"

"Yeah, right now," she said before turning into Marti's room. "Knock knock. You've got a very excited visitor."

Marti smiled, looking up from painting Julian's daughter's nails. "Hey, strangers."

"Mawti!" Chloe shouted.

"This is a hospital, not a play ground. Inside voices only," Savannah said.

"Mawti!" she whispered.

Marti laughed and she screwed the cap on the nail polish before holding out her arms. "Come here, baby."

Savannah picked Chloe up and she sat her on the bed, before sitting in a chair next to Nikki.

"Aunt Savannah, look; Mom did my nails," Nikki said, holding a hand up.

"She did a good job," Savannah said, kissing Nikki's head. "What did you learn at cheer practice yesterday?"

"Umm…" Nikki put her finger on her chin and snapped her fingers. "Oh! That thing where you bend backwards."

"That's it? If you wanna be a Hellcat, you gotta learn more than that. Have you been thrown yet?"

"No, our coach won't let us."

"Well, one of these days we're gonna have to convince Mom and Dad to let you come to my girls' practice and you can learn a few things."

"Can I, Mom?" Nikki asked, looking at Marti.

"As long as you're brought back home uninjured," Marti said.

Savannah laughed. "Yeah. Right."

"I mean it, Monroe. If there's a hair missing from her head I'll have your ass."

"Bad word!" Chloe said.

"That's right, that's a bad word," Savannah said.

"Mom, you told Dad not to say bad words anymore," Nikki said.

"I'm not Dad," Marti said.

"But it was a bad word."

Savannah laughed. "Gotta love it when you get called out by a ten-year-old."

"She's nine," Marti said.

"I'm ten!" Nikki said with a scoff.

"Whatever. Can I have Seth? I need a baby to cuddle."

"Yeah, I guess," Savannah said, taking Seth out of his carrier.

"Can I hold him later?" Nikki asked.

"You can for a little bit before I leave," she said, handing Seth to Marti.

"Kay. Can I take Chloe to the play room?"

"…Uh…"

"It's at the end of the hall," Marti said.

Savannah looked at Chloe for a few seconds. "I guess, but don't take your eyes off of her, and you stay with her. Don't run off to play with other kids and leave her by herself. Watch her. If you can't do that, you won't have play dates for a while."

"I'll watch her," Nikki said.

Savannah picked Chloe up from the bed and stood her up on the ground. "You stay with Nikki. Hold her hand when you're walking to the play room and back. Don't talk to strangers."

"Otay," Chloe said.

Savannah watched Nikki take Chloe out of the room and she looked at Marti. "How are you doing?"

Marti shrugged, kissing Seth's head. "Okay, I gues…"

"Liar."

"I'm not lying."

Savannah watched Marti, and noticed tears slowly filling her eyes. "Marti, I know this isn't easy. You don't have to pretend with me."

Marti stayed silent, watching Seth play with her hand. "…It hurts. I was so excited about having this baby and then I lose it," her voice cracked.

"I know… I feel so bad that this happened… Especially to you and Julian. I saw how upset Julian was when the doctor told us. He wouldn't even talk to me, all he could do was cry."

Marti sniffled. "It's not fair. There's fourteen-year-olds having babies because they were stupid and opened their legs, but I can't have the baby that I planned and was looking forward to. I was four months along, I was half way there."

"Marti, I know it's hard right now… But, I promise you that it will get better. You just have to think positive. I know it seems like it's never going to be okay, but it will. You have to have faith."

"I don't think I can do that right now."

"You don't have to right now. It's perfectly fine to feel down right now. I've never been through this before, but I know people that have, and they all went through the same thing. It always gets better."

"They aren't me."

"You're stronger than them. Look at you. Most women that go through a miscarriage don't want to be anywhere near kids. You painted Nikki's nails, you let Chloe up on the bed with you, and you're holding Seth like he's your own. You're coping just fine."

"Yeah, but that's just for right now. I don't know how I'm going to react when I get home. We started getting the guest room set up for the baby. Seeing that's going to break my heart…"

Savannah nodded and she watched Marti for a few seconds. "…Well, you know, when you start feeling too bad, you can always call me and I'll bring Seth over for the weekend. He takes the bottle now, so I'm not having to keep him home to nurse him. And if he doesn't take the bottle, all you have to do is nurse him yourself. That's not a big deal."

"Isn't that unsanitary?"

"No. You don't have to be the birth mother to breast feed. If it needs to be done, it's fine."

Marti looked at Seth as he leaned back and tilted his head to look at her, chewing on his fingers. She smiled and kissed his head. "Hi, cutie. What's up?"

Seth turned himself around in her lap and he sat on his knees, babbling as he buried his face into her stomach.

"I can't believe how big he's getting," Marti said, running her hand over his head.

"I know… I feel like I just had him," Savannah said.

"Six months old already. You gotta stop growing, buddy."

Seth giggled and he stood up, holding onto Marti's gown, babbling.

"And you're standing up already? This hospital makes me miss everything."

"He just started that a few days ago. He hasn't actually moved, he just… stands. And stands… and stands," Savannah said.

"Aw. Well, that's okay, he'll learn, won't ya little guy?" Marti said, kissing his head. "Jeez, you are something else, kid. I'm proud to call you my godson. My co-workers are so jealous. You and your sister are the cutest kids in the world."

Seth smiled and babbled, tangling his hands in Marti's hair. Marti laughed a little and put her forehead against his. "I love you," she said. "Can I steal you and never give you back?"

"That would be a negative. Although he's not dependent on nursing, if I don't, I'll burst."

"Aww. Mommy says I can't keep you, buddy."

Seth babbled and raised his voice, pointing to Savannah and Marti laughed. "Ooh, you just got told, Mommy."

"Yeah, yeah," Savannah said. "You remember that when you want an Otter Pop."

Seth's babbling calmed down, and he stuck his bottom lip out, before he started crying.

"Aw, Mommy. That was mean," Marti said.

"He's fine."

Seth let out a rack of sobs and he buried his face into Marti's neck. Marti chuckled and she ran her hand over his back. "You're okay, buddy."

"Aunt Savannah, Chloe threw up," Nikki said as she walked into the room.

Savannah looked over to Nikki. "Where is she? I told you to keep her with you, Nikki."

"The nurse that's in the play room is with her. She wouldn't let me bring her back."

Savannah sighed and stood up. "Will you keep him?" she asked, looking at Marti.

"Yeah. Nikki, when Aunt Savannah tells you something, you go by it. I don't care what the nurse says, you should have brought her with you, too," Marti said.

"She wouldn't let me," Nikki said.

"Just take me to the playroom, we'll talk about it later," Savannah said.

Once Savannah and Nikki got to the play room, Savannah walked over to Chloe, ignoring the nurse that was with you. "Are you okay, baby?"

"Mommy!" Chloe sobbed, holding her arms out.

Savannah picked her up and kissed her head lightly, running her hand over her back. "What happened, honey?"

"My tummy no nice!"

"Okay, calm down. You're okay."

"I no wanna s'ot!"

"A shot?"

"Yeah, I no wanna s'ot!"

"You're not gonna get a shot."

"She already got one," Nikki said.

Savannah looked at Nikki, and then snapped her head around to the nurse that was still standing by them. "You gave my daughter a shot?"

"It's mandatory procedure," the nurse said.

"No, it's mandatory procedure that a parent is with their kid to confirm whether or not a shot is okay to give them!" she shouted.

"You don't have to shout, ma'am."

"My daughter is allergic to most of the shots that most kids get! She hasn't had any immunizations, she's not used to the medicine! You can't just give a kid a shot just because they threw up! She ate a lot at breakfast this morning, her stomach was probably just upset! There's absolutely no fucking reason for you to give my daughter a shot of any kind without my authorization!"

"Please watch your language, there are children present."

"The only kids here are my niece and my daughter, and they've heard far worse come out of my mouth!"

"Well, your parenting skills must not be very good, then."

Savannah clenched her hand into a fist, and she let it connect with the nurse's mouth, before walking out of the play room. When they got back into Marti's room, she was still fuming, and Nikki ran over to Marti's bed.

"Woah, what's wrong with you?" Marti asked.

"The stupid nurse. She gave Chloe a shot."

"What? They can't just give shots to kids, the parents have to authorize it and be present."

"That's what I said. Then I started yelling at her. Then she told me to watch my mouth, there were children present. Then I told her they've heard worse things come from me, and she said my parenting skills were shit."

"And then what?"

"Aunt Savannah clocked the nurse!" Nikki said with a wide grin.

Marti's eyes widened and she looked at Savannah. "Savannah! You can't just hit a nurse because she said you're a bad parent!"

"She deserved it! She could have killed Chloe! She's lucky all she got was a punch to the mouth, I would have _fucked her up_ if the girls weren't with me!" Savannah said.

Marti sighed and shook her head. "You are something else, Monroe."


	8. Chapter 8

"Guess who's out of the hospital!" Marti's voice rang out.

Chloe gasped and looked at Savannah, smacking her mother in the face with her blonde pigtails and earning a small laugh. "Mawti! Mommy, Mawti here!"

"I hear that, go get her," Savannah said with a laugh, helping her out of her lap.

Savannah called in to work today because Chloe was still sick. It had been three days since she'd thrown up at the hospital, but for some reason her flu was lasting longer than usual. Today was the first day she hadn't been throwing up. Thankfully, she just had a fever and runny nose. So today, even though it was Sunday and they usually went to church, Savannah decided to stay at home with the kids and stay in their jammies, which consisted of feeties for the kids and the sluttiest tank top and boyshorts underwear for Savannah you could think of. She and the kids had been in Seth's nursery all morning, playing and reading books, and Seth's violent puke fest.

"Let's go see Auntie, Bubs," Savannah said as she stood up, picking Seth up with her.

"Mom," Seth said.

"What?"

"Mom."

"Yeah, I'm Mom," she said, walking out of the room. She walked into the living room and laughed a little at the sight of Marti on the couch, being smothered in kisses by Chloe. "Chloe, Honey, you've been sick. No kisses on the face."

"Aw, it's alright, Mom," Marti said. "I could go for being sick for a couple days in bed. Lay around with nothing to do. It'll be awesome."

"You just got out of the hospital from doing that."

Marti shrugged. "I could go longer."

"You're lazy."

"You look like a whore, gimme my boy," she said, holding her arms out.

"I do not look like a whore, don't use that language in front of my daughter," Savannah said, handing Seth to Marti. "Be careful, no airplane games. He puked his guts out earlier."

"You say worse than that in the bedroom, Savannah," Marti said, kissing Seth's cheek. "Huh, Seffers? Mommy says a _lot_ worse in the bedroom. You know, the bedroom is the whole reason you and your sister were born."

"No, he and his sister were born being I wanted to prove the world wrong that I'd never have kids."

"Yeah, I kinda want to talk to you about that whole thing."

"Okay. Shoot."

"Well, the thing is, you're able to carry. You just have trouble getting pregnant."

"Yeah… And?"

"I had no problems getting pregnant. I just can't carry."

Savannah looked at Marti for a few seconds. "Okay… Still not getting it."

"Because I haven't asked it yet."

"Then ask it."

"Would you be willing to be a surrogate for me and Julian?"

Savannah's eyes widened a little and she stayed quiet for a few seconds. How the hell was she supposed to answer that? "Um…"

"If you don't want to, that's perfectly fine. I just wanted to ask before we went on some wild goose chase search," Marti said.

"No, no," Savannah said. "It's not that I don't want to, I just… That's something I need to talk to Dan about, so I can't give you a straight answer right now."

"I can take that. But seriously, if you don't feel comfortable about it, just tell me. It's not going to break my heart, I promise."

"Marti, whatever is going to get you guys that baby, I'll help with as best as I can."

"That really means a lot, Savannah."

"When Dan gets home I'll talk to him about it. I'll let you know what he says."

"Deal."

Savannah and Marti both looked at Seth when he let out a loud squeal.

"What is your problem, Mister?" Savannah asked.

Seth's hand went straight to his mouth and he held his other arm out to Savannah, earning a sigh. "I just fed you, dude," Savannah said, taking him from Marti.

"Good going, Seth, now I'm leaking," Marti said, pulling her shirt away from her chest.

"You wanna feed him, then? You're gonna be in pain in about ten minutes."

"Why am I gonna be in pain?"

"Because your tits are gonna be engorged and stretched out to the max."

"Well, fuck… Give him back, then. I hate this."

Savannah handed Seth to Marti and she looked over to Chloe. "Hey. Stop tearing the fuzzies off of the carpet. Your brother will find them and put them in his mouth. He'll choke."

"No he won't," Chloe said.

"Yes he will. Pick the fuzzies up and throw them away. Now."

"Ugh," Chloe scoffed. "Otayyy."

Savannah watched Chloe prance out of the room and she looked at Marti. "Did you see that? Did you _hear_ that? She _scoffed_ at me, and it's all because of you."

"You're welcome. Help me, Monroe, this kid isn't having it today," Marti said.

Savannah laughed and she leaned over the back of the couch, turning Seth's head towards Marti's breast, and she stood baack up once he latched on a few seconds later. "It's magic."

"Mommy magic. You're a genius."

"Yeah. It's a Monroe trait."

"I wish I was a Monroe."

"Don't they all?"

* * *

><p>"No."<p>

Savannah's jaw dropped. Dan had never been that blunt with her before. "Did you just tell me _no_?" she asked, crossing her arms, staring at him from across the room.

Dan raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Yeah. I said 'no'. You're not doing it."

"And, why not?"

"Because it's not our problem."

"She's your _best__friend_. You should _want_ to help her."

"Savannah, you're talking about carrying somebody else's baby. You're not doing it."

"First of all, _Daniel_, I did not _ask_ you if I could do this. I _told_ you I'm doing it," Savannah said, pulling her shirt up and over her head as she made her way to her dresser.

"No, you're not! You don't know how hard it's going to be to give that baby away!"

"It's not going to be our baby, Dan! It's theirs! I'm just carrying for them!"

"You're not doing it."

Savannah got into a drawer and pulled a shirt over her head, slamming the drawer shut. "I am. I'm doing this for a friend. She's my _best_ friend. I'm doing it. I don't care what you say. I wasn't asking you if I could do it, I told you I'm doing it, and I am."

"If you do, we're getting a divorce."

Savannah turned around, her hair whipped to one side. "Are you _threatening_ me?"

"I'm _promising_ you, Savannah."

Savannah's eyes filled with tears and she stared at Dan for a few seconds. "I was in love with you until about two seconds ago," she said as her voice cracked.

"I've never been in love with you."

Savannah let out a sob and she walked out of the bedroom, slamming the door behind her. She sighed the second Seth started crying and she ran her hand through her hair, making her way to his nursery and taking him out of the crib.

"You're not leaving, Savannah," Dan said.

"Yeah. I am. You're a jerk. I don't know what the fuck I ever saw in you. I used to tell myself, I used to tell the _world_ that you were the love of my life and that nothing would ever go wrong between us. It's absolutely ridiculous that the one thing tearing us apart is helping our friend finally achieve her dream of being a mother because she can't make that dream happen herself," Savannah said as she put Seth in his carseat.

"Where do you plan on going?"

"My mother's."

"She hates you, she won't let you go back home."

"No, _you_ hate me. My mother loves me too much. I'd rather be overprotected and loved out of control than hated by my own husband."

"Don't worry about that anymore, because you're not my wife anymore."

* * *

><p>"Savannah…"<p>

Savannah looked up from feeding Seth and she looked at Layne, who was standing at the doorway. "Yeah?"

"Dan's on the phone," Layne said, wiggling the phone a little.

Savannah stared at the phone for a few seconds. "Fuck him. I came here to get away from him," she said.

Layne put the phone to her ear. "I'm sorry Dan, she's not feeling very well right now… Yes, I know that, but I'm not going to make her talk to someone she doesn't want to talk to… I will. Goodbye." Layne hung the phone up and she laid it on a side table before walking over to Savannah's bed and sitting down. "Since I didn't get an explanation through all the tears when you came over, can I have one now?"

Savannah stayed quiet for a few seconds. "…He wants a divorce."

"What? Why? Not that I'm not happy about it."

"Because Marti can't carry a baby, and I agreed to be a surrogate for her. He doesn't like it."

"That's an amazing thing to do for a friend."

"I know…"

"You're an amazing person, Savannah. I'm more proud of you than I express and show."

"Really?"

Layne nodded. "Savannah, you and your sister mean the world to me. I know I don't show it like I should. I'm sorry for that. But I try. I really do. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for Seth's birth. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you when you got pregnant and through your pregnancies. I'm _very_ sorry that I don't visit you like I should, even when I know I have the time."

Savannah looked at Seth for a few seconds before looking at Layne. "But you try. That's all that matters. You do your best, even if others can't see it. I know how you work, Mom. I know it's hard for you to express your feelings. I'm not mad at you for that. I used to be, but I'm older now. I understand."

"Don't ever think that I'm not proud of you or the kids. You and Charlotte, and Joseph, Chloe and Seth mean everything to me. I love all of you to death. Especially the kids. I know I haven't been the grandmother I should be to them, but that's going to change. I promise."

Savannah smiled. "Mom, you've always been a good grandmother."

"By buying them stuff to keep it fair? That's not fair at all."

"But, you spoil them. That's what grandmas are supposed to do. You do a damn good job of it, too."

"Savannah, I just want to apologize for my harsh behavior in the past. I know I've been an insensitive rhymes with witch, but–"

"You can say 'bitch', Mom. I'm not ten anymore."

"It's not a nice word."

"Neither are the words you use at night with Dad, but that doesn't stop you."

Layne looked at Savannah for a few seconds. "I have no clue what you're talking about, Savannah."

"I know you two still have sex, Charlotte told me."

"And why does she know this?"

"…Because she sleeps down the hall? Tell me, Mom; am I gonna be hearing your begs of mercy tonight? Maybe a few shout outs to God?" Savannah said with a grin.

"You stop that. I'm starting dinner. Be ready at seven."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Savannah watched Layne walk out of the room and she looked at Seth. "Grandma's getting luckyyy tonight."

"Savannah Ruth Monroe!"


End file.
